For the first quarter and a half of Ohio’s eventual 41-38 victory over Florida Atlantic at home, Ohio seemed plagued by many of the same issues that hamstrung its 2021 season.
The defense allowed FAU to drive down the field almost at will, and the offense could not move the ball consistently and finish drives. FAU scored 17 points on its first three drives thanks to a number of missed tackles by Ohio, which needed a muffed punt to get in the red zone for the first time and finally get on the board.
But after allowing scores on the first three drives, something changed for Ohio’s defense. FAU had picked up 216 yards on 32 plays on those first three drives, good for an average of more than 6.7 yards per play.
On their next five drives, the Owls gained just 88 yards on 21 plays for an average of 4.2 yards per play. Those drives resulted in four punts and a fumble, leading to 17 points for the Bobcats.
In the first half, FAU ran for 97 yards on 21 carries. It finished with 114 rushing yards for the game as Ohio adjusted and limited a rushing attack that ran for 218 yards in Week 0.
“They ran the ball on us in the first half, particularly in the first quarter,” Ohio head coach Tim Albin said. “In the second half they did not, and the pass rush got going.”
After holding the Owls scoreless on five consecutive drives, the Bobcats fell back into some of their old habits once again and allowed the Owls back into a game that seemed like it was over after the Bobcats scored 24 unanswered points.
FAU then scored touchdowns on three straight drives, with one Ohio touchdown thrown in. Two of FAU’s three touchdown drives went 75 yards, taking a combined 2:59 and just 10 plays.
The final touchdown drive for FAU, which pulled the score to 41-38 in favor of Ohio, took just one play and six seconds after a sequence which last year would have been a crushing blow.
After FAU scored to make it 41-31, Ohio’s Sam Wiglusz fielded the kickoff close to his own goal line and was immediately taken down. Ohio picked up almost no yards, and Jonah Wieland was forced to punt from the back of his own end zone.
The punt was returned to Ohio’s seven yard line, and FAU punched it in on the very next play, making it a three-point game. A pair of critical special teams mistakes had taken what seemed like a certain Ohio win and forced it to come down to the final seconds, something with which Ohio is all too familiar.
After a three and out by the Bobcats, they punted the ball away. The Bobcats put the game in the hands of their defense, something that came back to bite them many times last season. This time, however, the defense stepped up.
After FAU reached its own 41, just about 30 yards from field goal range, Ohio’s defense forced four straight incompletions to seal the win.
“I was really proud of the way we stepped up,” senior linebacker Bryce Houston said. “When it was crunch time, we needed a stop and we got a stop.”
That is something that fans did not see from Ohio last season. Although the defense was far from perfect, it is encouraging that after giving up three straight touchdowns, Ohio’s defense responded with the stop it needed to end the game.
Whether Ohio’s defense has turned it around from the unit that allowed the fourth most yards per game and fifth most points per game, it is too early to say. Nevertheless, there was certainly something different about them on Saturday.
